***

Sniffing out the scent of a bunch of juvenile wolves was easier said than done, but Miss Kumiho knew from the get go that they were the filthy thieves that dared steal Mr. Yok’s most prized possession. 

The private laboratory had been riddled with their stench and all that was left for her to do was to sniff them out. 

Humans, she had long decided, stink, so it was somewhat of a challenge to distinguish the wolves from the rabble, especially since they, in a way, were human as well. 

She knelt down briefly to study the tracks in the wet earth, sniffing the air and straining her ears. She hated to think that she was out of practice, but she honestly could not remember the last time she had fully transformed. How long had it been? She recalled a fleeting memory when the skies were painted red and the earth was scorched black with soot. 

A pair of gorgeous green eyes had looked at her in disbelief and disappointment. But there was more she had seen in those eyes. Heartache. Her own reflection. 

“Argh!” she fiercely shook her head, her own eyes flashing an angry lime green before she steadied herself. She didn’t have time for this. 

Regaining herself, Miss Kumiho walked briskly towards the town where she was immediately hit by a thousand sounds and odors, cringing her nose in disgust. 

“Where are you, little mongrels?” she mused, spotting a peculiar café where she picked up the distinct scent of one of the wolves. 

 “Happy Virus Café, eh?” She pushed down on the door handle, but the establishment was closed. “Not here,” she grumbled. “Well, at least I’ll know which people to hurt if I can’t find them myself,” she muttered, taking a deep breath and rearranging her hair. “Always think positive,” she smirked, looking at her reflection in the glass. 

She gasped when her eyes shone a golden amber and the angry face of her employer appeared in the reflection. 

“Mr. Yok!” she exclaimed, quickly looking around to not raise any suspicions. 

“Miss Kumiho,” the reflection hissed with obvious rage in his calm voice. “May I presume that you are taking care of this little setback?” 

“I’m looking for the dagger as we speak, sir. I will not disappoint you,” she whispered firmly. 

“My dear,” he chuckled threateningly, “you already have. How do you plan to make amends?”

Miss Kumiho swallowed as a wave of despair overwhelmed her. “I’ll get it back, sir,” she said. 

“Must I remind you how valuable that dagger is to me? What powers it possesses? How that power will indubitably be squandered on a bunch of brats?!” the glass shuddered at his outburst and Miss Kumiho jolted back. She glared at people who happened to pass by and they lowered their heads without question, quickly going about their own business. 

“I’m sure they wouldn’t know what to do with it, sir,” she stated confidently.

“That is beside the point, Miss Kumiho. The fact that they managed to steal the dagger right from under your nose is saying enough. Their memories will return and when they do-,”

“I am fully aware of the consequences, sir,” she cut in. “Time is running out. I’ll find the dagger and ensure your right to the throne of this world. I swear it on my life,” she stated. 

Mr. Yok scowled at her before softening his expression. “Very well, my dear. I hope to hear good news from you- soon.” 

Miss Kumiho nodded and waited until her reflection was her own again. When she went to adjust her collar, she noticed the slight tremble in her fingers and shook it off. She blinked when her reflection had changed in the glass once more, but this time, a rather chubby man with a friendly face appeared at the door, unlocking it for her. 

He reeked to Miss Kumiho, but she plastered a smile on her face for good measure. 

“Hello, there,” he greeted amicably. “May I help you with something?” he asked kindly. 

“Ah, not at all, thank you,” she replied. 

“Are you sure? My wife said she saw you standing here for a while now. We’re sorry but we’ve closed for today. The news said that the weather is a bit unstable so everyone should stay home if they don’t have anywhere else to be,” he said. 

“Of course. One should obey the authorities,” Miss Kumiho replied with a sweet smile that made the older man blush. 

“I take it you own this - lovely - establishment?” she inquired, leaning a bit forward to make sure she could charm him to her will. 

“Why, yes. I’m Mr. Park,” he extended his hand and waited for her to shake it. Miss Kumiho smirked and maintained eye contact with him, so he couldn’t see the green glow coming from her hand when she shook his. 

“Charmed, I’m sure. Are you, per chance, Chanyeol-sshi’s father?” she asked sweetly. 

“Why, yes, but how do you know my son?” 

Miss Kumiho waited until the suspicion left him, his eyes glowing a faint green for a split second. 

“We have history,” she replied cryptically, but the man only smiled foolishly. 

“Ah! You’re a friend of Yeollie!” he exclaimed happily. 

“Indeed, I am. I’m actually looking for him. I don’t suppose you know where I can find him?” Miss Kumiho asked, still holding onto the man’s hand. 

“Of course, of course! I believe Chanyeol went to meet his friends. He won’t be back until later this evening,” he replied cheerfully. 

“Oh my, did he happen to tell you where he would meet his friends?” she continued asking.

“Ah, I think he said something about meeting a girl? There’s a new girl at school that Yeollie’s sweet on, it’s very cute,” he blabbed. “I think her name is Jae? Jae Miyano. I think you’ll find him there,” the man answered guilelessly. 

“Of course I will,” Miss Kumiho retorted sharply, feeling agitated at hearing the news. She roughly let go of his hand and Mr. Park staggered, trying to regain his balance. He shook his head in confusion and cleared his throat. He blinked in confusion at the beautiful woman standing before him and he frowned. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened there,” he chuckled apologetically. “I’m afraid I forgot what we were talking about,” he mused, looking expectantly at Miss Kumiho. 

“Not to worry, you’ve been very helpful,” she said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. 

“I- I was?” Mr. Park scratched his chin. 

“More than you know,” she winked. “If you’ll excuse me. It was nice talking to you,” she greeted and the man nodded, still a bit dazed when he closed the door behind him. 

The moment she turned away from him, the smile on her face disappeared and she resolutely walked to her destination. She was starting to regret not having killed the little when she had the chance. What use was little Jae to their plan to begin with? She only proved to be a nuisance now. 

Miss Kumiho gritted her teeth and quickened her pace. She picked up a scent and knew which way to go now. She felt the beautiful rage built inside of her and she couldn’t wait to unleash all of it on those little mongrels. They won’t know what hit them. It was only a shame that she wouldn’t be allowed to kill them- yet. Though she was sure that no one would give a damn if she strangled precious little Jae with her bare hands. 

She woke from her thoughts when she had arrived at the Miyano home, sensing distinct energies coming from within the house. She felt all of her senses sharpening when the dagger pulsed, and she heard a growl from the back of . How long has it been since she was this enraged? 

Miss Kumiho prepared herself to enter the house, but was stopped when the door opened with a bang and one of the boys ran out as though he was being chased by a monster. She watched in alarm when a second one followed soon after, one right after the other running from the house as though they were possessed. She hid and waited, squinting her eyes in anger when finally, Jae ran out of the home, calling after her friends. She would usually find it interesting to know what had occurred, but at the moment, there were other matters she needed to tend to. 

The energy inside of the house was overwhelming. Miss Kumiho needed to be sure that they hadn’t left the dagger inside of the house. She had no trouble picking the lock and walked deftly inside, only to find the living room in a state of chaos. 

! 

She hissed and sharply turned around to run after them. She was driven by a need for vengeance and retaliation. She’d get that dagger back, by any means possible. 

However, it was the second time that day that Miss Kumiho had been careless. 

Ryo’s heart had thumped anxiously when he stealthily followed Miss Kumiho with his car. The woman was eerily fast on her feet and to be honest, he wasn’t sure what he was looking at when he saw her talking to that restaurant owner. 

Was her hand glowing?! 

No, it had to be a reflection of some sort, or maybe he had imagined it. How could her hand have been glowing? That was preposterous! The only way for her hand to glow like that was if she could do magic of some sort and everyone knew that magic wasn’t real. 

Ryo rubbed the side of his head as he realized how he was trying to reason with what he saw. He was a man of science, not fairy tales. Of course there was no glowing magic hand. He was only seeing things. 

He could quite literally feel his blood pressure rising when he followed Miss Kumiho down a very familiar path. 

“Woman, what do you think you’re doing at my house?!” he murmured to himself, keeping low as he spied on her. He hadn’t imagined it when she said that she was going to get the dagger back, this morning. That had to mean that she knew who was responsible. 

But why would that lead her to my house? 

He swallowed and felt sick to his stomach as he breathlessly watched the scene unfold in front of his very eyes. Ryo was panicking. There was nothing left of the usually calm and poised demeanor. 

His wife and daughter were the only ones outside of the company who had accidentally seen the dagger. There was no one else. He hadn’t told either of them what the dagger did, or why it was important. 

Ryo took deep, steady breaths as his reasoning was bringing him to a conclusion he simply refused to accept. 

Yoona would never steal. She wouldn’t. So why would Miss Kumiho go to his house? 

Ryo cleared his throat, trying to calm his heart, still refusing to even think about this- but his logic couldn’t deny it. 

Jae had expressed interest in the dagger for no apparent reason. She’d asked about it even, while she usually wouldn’t meddle in his business. 

No. “No! Don’t be a fool, Miyano, that’s your own daughter you’re thinking badly of!” he said strictly. “What would Jae even want with a dagger?” 

He sunk down in his seat when he saw someone burst out the front door, followed by a string of others like him. Ryo felt a different kind of anger now since he recognized some of them as Jae’s friends. 

“She did not,” he breathed. “She invited boys over?! Yoona, where are you?!” he instinctively grabbed for his phone, but slouched even lower in his seat when he saw Jae run out a few moments later, calling out names. 

This was something he found peculiar. The distress and helplessness in her voice made him anxious. 

“Oh, Jade, baby…What have you gotten yourself into?” he wondered out loud, gripping his steering wheel until his knuckles went white. His paternal instincts told him to forget about Miss Kumiho altogether and follow his daughter instead. 

Ryo perked up when he saw that Miss Kumiho disappeared in his house and that nearly made him want to get out of the car to drag her back out, except that he didn’t have to do that. She reappeared after a few seconds and started running like the devil on heels. 

“Oh, ,” he cursed as he watched the woman run towards the direction he saw Jae disappear to and for a second, he didn’t know what to do. Should he follow? Should he call the authorities? Should he call his wife? 

Why would that woman follow his daughter? 

Did Jae-, he stopped his thought, shaking his head. Jae couldn’t have stolen the dagger. Not his daughter. Not his little girl. There had to be a valid explanation for this. 

Ryo would have loved to put the blame on those boys that were undoubtedly a bad influence on his daughter, but that was him being a biased father. He had met Suho, after all, and the first impression he had of the boy was that he was genuinely well-mannered and a bit of a dork. He’d be the last person to commit a crime. Then again, kids these days caved easily under peer pressure, and he resented the alternative option that perhaps his Jae was the bad influence.

“Okay, okay, calm down, Ryo,” he soothed. “Don’t rush to any conclusions. Take it one step at a time,” he shifted gears and drove after Miss Kumiho, feeling a bit more anxious at what he might see once he reached his destination…